


Brave

by Shatterpath



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-19
Updated: 2012-12-19
Packaged: 2017-11-21 12:24:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/597737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The victims of Regina's curse want Prince Henry to exact vengeance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brave

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Inspiration Tree challenge.  
> Inspired by the line: "This is not your fault."

He feels too young to make this choice, to have it thrust upon him. How can they expect him to kill the woman he called mother for most of his life? She was never evil to him, the stories were just stories, until they turned out to be true. But they still never happened to him.

Pulling back, Henry grasps the sword in both trembling hands, inhaling with the effort he knows he must make. Regina sighs in resignation, turns her dark, sad eyes away from his, resigned to her fate.

The sound of the sword shattering the stone beside her head is a thunderous boom, shock waves of magic expanding like an explosion.

"No!" He shouts to the stunned crowd. "This isn't justice! This is cowardice! I won't slaughter someone like this, like some sort of soulless executioner! If you want it so bad, you cowards, you do it. You wear her blood on your hands."

Ignoring the silent crowd, he kneels and pulls a dagger to slice away her bonds and help her sit up.

"I'm sorry, Mom," he whispers, trying not to cry. "It never should have happened this way."


End file.
